Judith 10:11-13:20

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

IV. Judith Goes out to War^[a]

¹¹ As Judith and her maid walked directly across the valley, they encountered the Assyrian patrol. ¹² The men took her in custody and asked her, “To what people do you belong? Where do you come from, and where are you going?”^(A) She replied: “I am a daughter of the Hebrews, and I am fleeing from them, because they are about to be delivered up to you as prey. ¹³ I have come to see Holofernes, the ranking general of your forces, to give him a trustworthy report; in his presence I will show him the way by which he can ascend and take possession of the whole hill country without a single one of his men suffering injury or loss of life.”^(B)

¹⁴ When the men heard her words and gazed upon her face, which appeared marvelously beautiful to them, they said to her, ¹⁵ “By hastening down to see our master, you have saved your life. Now go to his tent; some of us will accompany you to hand you over to him. ¹⁶ When you stand before him, have no fear in your heart; give him the report you have given us, and he will treat you well.” ¹⁷ So they selected a hundred of their men as an escort for her and her maid, and these conducted them to the tent of Holofernes.

¹⁸ As the news of her arrival spread among the tents, a crowd gathered in the camp. They came and stood around her as she waited outside the tent of Holofernes, while he was being informed about her. ¹⁹ They marveled at her beauty, regarding the Israelites with wonder because of her, and they said to one another, “Who can despise this people who have such women among them? It is not good to leave one of their men alive, for if any were to be spared they could beguile the whole earth.”

Judith Meets Holofernes. ²⁰ Then the guards of Holofernes and all his attendants came out and ushered her into the tent. ²¹ Holofernes was reclining on his bed under a canopy^[b] woven of purple, gold, emeralds, and other precious stones. ²² When they announced her to him, he came out to the front part of the tent, preceded by silver lamps. ²³ When Judith came before Holofernes and his attendants, they all marveled at the beauty of her face. She fell prostrate and paid homage to him, but his servants raised her up.^(C)

Chapter 11

¹ Then Holofernes said to her: “Take courage, woman! Have no fear in your heart! I have never harmed anyone who chose to serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of all the earth. ² As for your people who live in the hill country, I would never have raised my spear against them, had they not insulted me. They have brought this upon themselves. ³ But now tell me why you have fled from them and come to us? In any case, you have come to safety. Take courage! Your life is spared tonight and for the future.^{(D) 4} No one at all will harm you. Rather, you will be well treated, as are the servants of my lord, King Nebuchadnezzar.”

⁵ Judith answered him: “Listen to the words of your servant, and let your maidservant speak in your presence! I will say nothing false to my lord^[c] this night. ⁶ If you follow the words of your maidservant, God will successfully perform a deed through you, and my lord will not fail to achieve his designs.^{[d] 7} I swear by the life of Nebuchadnezzar, king of all the earth, and by the power of him who has sent you to guide all living things, that not only do human beings serve him through you; but even the wild animals, and the cattle, and the birds of the air, because of your strength, will live for Nebuchadnezzar and his whole house.^{(E) 8} Indeed, we have heard of your wisdom and cleverness.^(F) The whole earth is aware that you above all others in the kingdom are able, rich in experience, and distinguished in military strategy.

^9 (G)“As for Achior’s speech in your council, we have heard it. When the men of Bethulia rescued him, he told them all he had said to you. ¹⁰ So then, my lord and master, do not disregard his word, but bear it in mind, for it is true. Indeed our people are not punished, nor does the sword prevail against them, except when they sin against their God.^{(H) 11} But now their sin^[e] has caught up with them, by which they will bring the wrath of their God upon them when they do wrong; so that my lord will not be repulsed and fail, but death will overtake them. ¹² Because their food has given out and all their water is running low, they have decided to kill their animals, and are determined to consume all the things which God in his laws has forbidden them to eat. ¹³ They have decided that they would use the first fruits of grain and the tithes of wine and oil, which they had consecrated and reserved for the priests who minister in the presence of our God in Jerusalem—things which the people should not so much as touch with their hands.^{(I) 14} They have sent messengers to Jerusalem to bring back permission from the senate, for even there people have done these things.^{(J) 15} On the very day when the response reaches them and they act upon it, they will be handed over to you for destruction.

¹⁶ “As soon as I, your servant, learned all this, I fled from them. God has sent me to perform with you such deeds as will astonish people throughout the whole earth who hear of them. ¹⁷ Your servant is, indeed, a God-fearing woman, serving the God of heaven night and day. Now I will remain with you, my lord; but each night your servant will go out into the valley and pray to God. He will tell me when they have committed their offenses. ¹⁸ Then I will come and let you know, so that you may march out with all your forces, and not one of them will be able to withstand you. ¹⁹ I will lead you through the heart of Judea until you come to Jerusalem, and there in its center I will set up your throne. You will drive them like sheep that have no shepherd, and not even a dog will growl at you.^(K) This was told to me in advance and announced to me, and I have been sent to tell you.”

²⁰ Her words pleased Holofernes and all his attendants. They marveled at her wisdom and exclaimed, ²¹ “No other woman from one end of the earth to the other looks so beautiful and speaks so wisely!” ²² Then Holofernes said to her: “God has done well in sending you ahead of your people, to bring victory to our hands, and destruction to those who have despised my lord. ²³ You are not only beautiful in appearance, but you are also eloquent. If you do as you have said, your God will be my God;^[f] you will live in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar and be renowned throughout the whole earth.”

Chapter 12

¹ Then he ordered them to lead her into the room where his silver dinnerware was kept, and ordered them to set a table for her with his own delicacies to eat and his own wine to drink. ² But Judith said, “I cannot eat any^[g] of them, because it would be a scandal.^(L) Besides, I will have enough with the things I brought with me.” ³ Holofernes asked her, “But if your provisions give out, where can we get more of the same to provide for you? None of your people are with us.” ⁴ Judith answered him, “As surely as you live, my lord, your servant will not use up her supplies before the Lord accomplishes by my hand what he has determined.”

⁵ Then the attendants of Holofernes led her to her tent, where she slept until the middle of the night. Toward the early morning watch, she rose^{(M) 6} and sent this message to Holofernes, “Give orders, my lord, to let your servant go out for prayer.” ⁷ So Holofernes ordered his guards not to hinder her. Thus she stayed in the camp three days. Each night she went out to the valley of Bethulia, where she bathed herself^[h] at the spring of the camp.^{(N) 8} After bathing, she prayed to the Lord, the God of Israel, to direct her way for the triumph of her people. ⁹ Then she returned purified to the tent and remained there until her food was brought to her toward evening.^(O)

Judith at the Banquet of Holofernes. ¹⁰ On the fourth day Holofernes gave a banquet for his servants alone, to which he did not invite any of the officers. ¹¹ And he said to Bagoas, the eunuch in charge of his personal affairs, “Go and persuade the Hebrew woman in your care to come and to eat and drink with us. ¹² It would bring shame on us to be with such a woman without enjoying her. If we do not seduce her, she will laugh at us.”^(P)

¹³ So Bagoas left the presence of Holofernes, and came to Judith and said, “So lovely a maidservant should not be reluctant to come to my lord to be honored by him, to enjoy drinking wine with us, and to act today like one of the Assyrian women who serve in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar.” ¹⁴ Judith replied, “Who am I to refuse my lord? Whatever is pleasing to him I will promptly do. This will be a joy^[i] for me until the day of my death.”

¹⁵ So she proceeded to put on her festive garments and all her finery. Meanwhile her servant went ahead and spread out on the ground opposite Holofernes the fleece Bagoas had furnished for her daily use in reclining while eating.^{(Q) 16} Then Judith came in and reclined. The heart of Holofernes was in rapture over her and his passion was aroused. He was burning with the desire to possess her, for he had been biding his time to seduce her from the day he saw her.^{(R) 17} Holofernes said to her, “Drink and be happy with us!” ¹⁸ Judith replied, “I will gladly drink, my lord, for today is the greatest day of my whole life.” ¹⁹ She then took the things her servant had prepared and ate and drank in his presence. ²⁰ Holofernes, charmed by her, drank a great quantity of wine, more than he had ever drunk on any day since he was born.

Chapter 13

Judith Beheads Holofernes. ¹ When it grew late, his servants quickly withdrew. Bagoas closed the tent from the outside and dismissed the attendants from their master’s presence. They went off to their beds, for they were all tired because the banquet had lasted so long. ² Judith was left alone in the tent with Holofernes, who lay sprawled on his bed, for he was drunk with wine. ³ Judith had ordered her maidservant to stand outside the bedchamber and to wait, as on the other days, for her to come out; she had said she would be going out for her prayer. She had also said this same thing to Bagoas.

⁴ When all had departed, and no one, small or great, was left in the bedchamber, Judith stood by Holofernes’ bed and prayed silently, “O Lord, God of all might, in this hour look graciously on the work of my hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem. ⁵ Now is the time for aiding your heritage and for carrying out my design to shatter the enemies who have risen against us.”^{(S) 6} She went to the bedpost near the head of Holofernes, and taking his sword from it, ⁷ she drew close to the bed, grasped the hair of his head, and said, “Strengthen me this day, Lord, God of Israel!” ⁸ Then with all her might she struck his neck twice and cut off his head.^{(T) 9} She rolled his body off the bed and took the canopy from its posts. Soon afterward, she came out and handed over the head of Holofernes to her maid, ¹⁰ who put it into her food bag. Then the two went out together for prayer as they were accustomed to do.

Judith and Her Maid Return to Bethulia. They passed through the camp, and skirting that valley, went up the mountain to Bethulia, and approached its gates. ¹¹ From a distance, Judith shouted to the guards at the gates: “Open! Open the gate! God, our God, is with us. Once more he has shown his strength in Israel and his power against the enemy, as he has today!”

Judith Displays the Head of Holofernes. ^12 [j]When the citizens heard her voice, they hurried down to their city gate and summoned the elders of the city. ¹³ All the people, from the least to the greatest, hurriedly assembled, for her return seemed unbelievable. They opened the gate and welcomed the two women. They made a fire for light and gathered around the two. ¹⁴ Judith urged them with a loud voice: “Praise God, give praise! Praise God, who has not withdrawn his mercy from the house of Israel, but has shattered our enemies by my hand this very night!” ¹⁵ Then she took the head out of the bag, showed it to them, and said: “Here is the head of Holofernes, the ranking general of the Assyrian forces, and here is the canopy under which he lay in his drunkenness. The Lord struck him down by the hand of a female!^{[k] 16} Yet I swear by the Lord, who has protected me in the way I have walked, that it was my face that seduced Holofernes to his ruin, and that he did not defile me with sin or shame.”

¹⁷ All the people were greatly astonished. They bowed down and worshiped God, saying with one accord, “Blessed are you, our God, who today have humiliated the enemies of your people.” ¹⁸ Then Uzziah said to her, “Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, the creator of heaven and earth, who guided your blow at the head of the leader of our enemies.^{(U) 19} Your deed of hope will never be forgotten by those who recall the might of God.^{(V) 20} May God make this redound to your everlasting honor, rewarding you with blessings, because you risked your life when our people were being oppressed, and you averted our disaster, walking in the straight path before our God.” And all the people answered, “Amen! Amen!”^(W)